Having successfully obtained the pass token, Uchiha Kazuhiko no longer needed to stay. He immediately dispelled his Shadow Clones, and two distinct sets of memories flooded into his mind.
After sorting through them, Uchiha Kazuhiko acquired the ninjutsu recorded in the scrolls his clones had seized.
"Wind Release: Great Wind!"
"Water Release: Water Arrow!"
"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!"
"Fire Release: Great Blazing Flame!"
"Earth Release: Earth Clone!"
...
Uchiha Kazuhiko learned and tested each acquired ninjutsu in sequence, mastering their specific effects and gaining a more intuitive understanding of how to employ them in combat.
However, these were ultimately just ordinary ninjutsu. They only slightly diversified his combat style and couldn't significantly enhance his overall strength.
In battles at the Kage level and above, ordinary ninjutsu rarely play a decisive role. Only S-rank forbidden techniques or special abilities like Kekkei Genkai can serve as trump cards that determine victory or defeat.
The Sharingan can be considered one of the top-tier Kekkei Genkai in the ninja world. By progressing step-by-step and continuously improving it, one can even unlock the highest level, the Rinne Sharingan, upon obtaining the power of the God Tree.
Uchiha Itachi, possessing the Mangekyō Sharingan, could easily defeat veteran Kage-level figures like Orochimaru. Uchiha Madara, with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, could fight on par with Hashirama Senju, hailed as the God of Shinobi. Pain, wielder of the Rinnegan, was capable of single handedly destroying Konoha, the leader of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
This demonstrates that Uchiha Kazuhiko, possessing the Sharingan, is already ahead of over ninety-nine percent of shinobi in terms of Kekkei Genkai.
As for forbidden techniques, with the system's help, acquiring forbidden techniques or even skills surpassing them isn't particularly difficult. It mainly requires spending a considerable number of gold coins, which the financially strained Uchiha Kazuhiko couldn't afford on a large scale yet.
Therefore, after spending another day seizing enough commonly used ninjutsu from participating teams, Uchiha Kazuhiko proceeded to the Cloud Rock Platform. He handed the pass token to the waiting staff, becoming the third team to pass the second stage of the exam.
After resting for a day in the temporary accommodations at the Cloud Rock Platform, the second stage officially concluded.
Perhaps the examinees this year had good luck. Including Uchiha Kazuhiko, a total of eleven teams passed the assessment.
All eleven teams were from major villages. The Cloud Village had the most with four teams, followed by the Rock Village with three teams, then Konoha and the Sand Village, each with two teams.
The thirty-one examinees who passed were led by Samui back to the Cloud Ninja School auditorium and handed over to the Cloud Jonin responsible for the next stag Taruī.
"Samui, so many examinees passed the second stage? This is troublesome,"
Taruī said, looking at the crowded examinees, slightly massaging his forehead with a somewhat helpless expression.
"What's so troublesome about it? Just hold preliminaries to eliminate some examinees,"
Samui retorted, rolling her eyes at her friend Taruī before turning and leaving the auditorium.
Taruī watched his friend leave, sighed, and turned to address the examinees seated below.
"Because the Daimyos have limited time, the third exam can only accommodate sixteen combatants. Therefore, we need to hold a preliminary round in advance to eliminate fifteen of you."
The examinees grew somewhat restless but quickly quieted down, waiting for Taruī to continue.
"Here's the plan. Except for Uchiha Kazuhiko, who is a solo participant, the remaining ten teams will draw lots to form matchups. Tomorrow morning at 8 AM in Training Ground 3, team battles will be held. The winning teams will qualify for the third exam,"
Taruī said, flipping through the detailed profiles of each team and stating what he believed was a very suitable screening method.
"Proctor, why doesn't the Konoha guy have to participate in the preliminaries? This isn't fair!"
"Yeah, proctor, why does he get a free pass?"
Some examinees, jealous that Uchiha Kazuhiko didn't have to participate, protested to the proctor.
"Quiet! Passing the second stage alone is proof enough that he is more outstanding than most of you. Consider this a small reward and compensation for him. If you're dissatisfied, prove your own excellence in the upcoming matches,"
Taruī frowned. Unswayed by the protests, he insisted on his decision, granting Uchiha Kazuhiko direct qualification for the third exam.
Seeing Taruī's displeasure, the protesting examinees muttered a few words under their breath but said no more.
The captains of the ten teams came forward one by one. Under Taruī's supervision, they drew lots with numbers to determine their opponents in the preliminaries.
"Alright, that's all for today. Don't be late tomorrow morning. Let's conclude the preliminaries quickly,"
Taruī instructed once more before vanishing from the auditorium in an instant.
Under the gazes of envy, jealousy, and hostility from the crowd, Uchiha Kazuhiko left calmly, completely indifferent to their looks.
With his strength, he could have passed the preliminaries anyway, so he didn't find it particularly gratifying it merely saved him a bit of trouble.
After collecting some free supplies and tools from the staff, Uchiha Kazuhiko returned to the inn to rest.
A night of meditation made Uchiha Kazuhiko feel his mental energy seemed on the verge of a breakthrough. He created a Shadow Clone to go watch the other teams' matches at the training ground while his main body remained at the inn to continue cultivating.
There were five matches in the preliminaries, all scheduled for that morning.
First Match: Samui's Cloud Team vs. Konoha Ninjutsu Team.
Samui's team members were all skilled in nin-taijutsu and sword techniques. Their aggressive offense disrupted the Konoha team's rhythm, overwhelming the average-level Konoha team.
Second Match: Cloud Nin-Taijutsu Team vs. Sand Puppet Team.
Lightning Release nin-taijutsu inherently countered the Sand's puppet techniques. Coupled with the limited space for the Sand puppeteer to evade due to the arena restrictions, the Sand puppets were eventually destroyed by the Cloud ninjas after some time, forcing the Sand team to concede defeat.
Third Match: Sand Yomi Team vs. Rock Ninjutsu Team.
The Sand team, leveraging Yomi's Swift Release (Jinton), took the enemy by surprise at the battle's start. Yomi killed the Rock team captain with a single sword strike. The remaining two Rock ninjas, seeing this, immediately surrendered, making this the shortest prelim match.
Fourth Match: Cloud Ninjutsu Team vs. Rock Ninjutsu Team.
Unlike the second match's outcome, although the Rock's Earth Release was also countered by Lightning Release, the Rock participants were elites. Relying on superior strength and rich experience, they defeated the Cloud team after a hard-fought battle, successfully advancing.
Next was the final match, also the one Uchiha Kazuhiko deemed most worth watching.
Cloud Triplets Team vs. Rock Kekkei Genkai Team.